Flipped by a Vendetta

[ratz]

Rats,
You know Florida is open you can move here like I did nice weather and year long riding. Also we could ride together and be buds and then you can get me that new shram shifters that you have and lend me wheels for a year or two.
Just kidding about the wheels. Lol

Graduate of Stetson. 5 years community south to the Kissimimee exit in the never ending heat drove me away. Or maybe it was all the annoying tourists. I was lobbying for FL road repairs and better shoulders about the time the Ben T was in training wheels. Next stop Huston or San Diego and maybe retire down on Captiva for full on get off my lawn mode.

 

[1happyreader]

maybe retire down on Captiva

Sanibel island now has a lovely amount of paved bike paths perfect for lazy days and going to a bar/food.
There is narrow road to Captiva that I am not comfortable biking on.
I suspect if you still have a "need for speed" when you retire , you will be riding over the causeway to the mainland.

 

[Tuloose]

I spent 28 years in the sludgy heat of Central FL.
I remember club rides with the Florida Freewheelers (Orlando)- sucking on my Camelbak almost constantly while sweat poured off my nose in a steady stream onto the top tube of my road bike.
We moved to Corvallis, Oregon 8 years ago and have found cycling nirvana.
Year round riding right out my front door in gorgeous scenery on rural roads shared with (mostly) friendly motorists - something FL definitely lacked.
Now I seldom carry more than 1 water bottle and I have a choice of flat rides on low traffic farm roads or climbing in the Coast Range foothills, or, venturing further afield, the Cascades.
Occasionally I think fondly of the Van Fleet or Withlacoochee trails but they required an hour of driving to access.
Now I drive less and bike more.

 

[LarryOz]

In emergency, almost never a good idea to put an appendage (foot, leg, hand, arm) out, it's a good way to break bones. If bike falls you'll probably get scraped up and bike might get bent, but better than breaking.

It's easy to say this, but very hard to do in real like.
You just normally want to "break" our fall on the side of the body that is falling. This is how I dislocated my left shoulder at Sebring this past February!
It happens so fast, all you do is re-act.

I have found though, with my short stubby "suicide" handlebar, that I am more likely to keep a hold of them when going down when I get a front flat on the track, saving me from sticking my arm out.
I still usually rough up the end of my forearm and have a little road rash there, but much better than dislocating my shoulder!

 

[ratz]

It's easy to say this, but very hard to do in real like.
You just normally want to "break" our fall on the side of the body that is falling. This is how I dislocated my left shoulder at Sebring this past February!
It happens so fast, all you do is re-act.

I have found though, with my short stubby "suicide" handlebar, that I am more likely to keep a hold of them when going down when I get a front flat on the track, saving me from sticking my arm out.
I still usually rough up the end of my forearm and have a little road rash there, but much better than dislocating my shoulder!

Ride it to the ground boys; it's always the best course of action; just hard to convince the brain; any time I go down my head is screaming to myself;;;; ride it ride it stay with it; hang on all the way down it's gonna hurt a lot less..... to bad the dam thing happen in slow motion usually......

 

[super slim]

It's easy to say this, but very hard to do in real like.
You just normally want to "break" our fall on the side of the body that is falling. This is how I dislocated my left shoulder at Sebring this past February!
It happens so fast, all you do is re-act.

I have found though, with my short stubby "suicide" handlebar, that I am more likely to keep a hold of them when going down when I get a front flat on the track, saving me from sticking my arm out.
I still usually rough up the end of my forearm and have a little road rash there, but much better than dislocating my shoulder!

Larry, do you shave you legs and arms like the Pros, for less air drag OR to allow easier cleaning of road rash wounds, OR your legs look better shaved?

 

[Rick Youngblood]

Ride it to the ground boys; it's always the best course of action; just hard to convince the brain; any time I go down my head is screaming to myself;;;; ride it ride it stay with it; hang on all the way down it's gonna hurt a lot less..... to bad the dam thing happen in slow motion usually......

Knock on wood. I've never went down on bike as an adult (except falling over @ 2-4 mph on an icy glass bridge when a walker stepped in front of me) but you know I mean. I have fallen on dirt bikes many years ago, in the dirt/gravel, but never on pavement. I've been told its inevitable and bound to happen. Came scary close several times. It is something that does inter my mind when coming off a hill in the 40 plus mph. I envision blood, broken bones, but only if I'm lucky.

 

[LarryOz]

Larry, do you shave you legs and arms like the Pros, for less air drag OR to allow easier cleaning of road rash wounds, OR your legs look better shaved?

No shaving so far! When I was 18 and swimming in the state finals as a senior in High School, I shaved my entire body. Boy was that ever a chore!
It felt absolutely cool when I was in the water. I felt super fast and "slippery" in the water, but I did not really notice a betterment of my time in any event.
...
Never done it for cycling. If I go after the UMCA WR this year on the track, I might do it.
...
But you have a point. I think I have gone down and gotten road rash 7 times in the last 15 months, and if I had been shaved, it would have made cleaning and prepping the wound easier. I always end up shaving all around the road rash so the bandages stick better.
..
I am 90% healed up already from my road rash of last Thursday. That Silvaderm with Duoderm patches works miracles. Almost full healing in 8 days!